Recreating 'Aladdin's' magic with Will Smith and fresh faces

In 1992, Disney transported audiences to the mythical land of Agrabah, where they met a street rat with a heart of gold, a flying carpet, a headstrong princess and a magical genie with some oddly current pop culture references. With the music and lyrics of Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, "Aladdin" would go on to win the hearts of millions and become the highest-grossing picture of the year.

It was an ambitious animation project that paid off and generated decades of fan goodwill, not to mention the two Oscars and a future Broadway musical. Now, following in the lucrative footsteps of "Beauty and the Beast" and others, the studio is taking another shot at "Aladdin," this time in live-action. The film, from director Guy Ritchie, opens nationwide Friday.

But how do you recreate the magic of "Aladdin" without the help of a genie's lamp?

Actor Will Smith poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Aladdin' in London, Friday, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Well, getting a movie star like Will Smith on board doesn't hurt. Smith agreed to play the Genie. The part was originated by the late Robin Williams, who brought his signature irreverence and wit and modern references to the role. But even with Smith's bona fides, he was nervous. Williams' performance has become iconic in the past 27 years. In other words, it would be a tough act to follow.

"It was not a no-brainer," Smith said. "I was really terrified at first. You know, you have to be careful with these types of films that mark people's childhoods."

Smith and the filmmakers knew that remaking "Aladdin " would inevitably involve a delicate dance of paying homage to the original while also modernizing some aspects of the story, including casting ethnically appropriate leads, who could sing and dance and carry a large scale production, and giving a character like Princess Jasmine more agency.

Actress Naomi Scott poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Aladdin' in London, Friday, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

They found Egyptian-born and Canada-raised actor Mena Massoud to play Aladdin and British actress Naomi Scott, who is of half South Asian descent, to play Jasmine.

"She was one of my favorite princesses," Scott said. "I think I gravitated toward her because of her strength and because I felt like I saw myself in her."

In this film, she's fighting for equality and the opportunity to succeed her father as Sultan.

This image released by Disney shows Mena Massoud as Aladdin in Disney's live-action adaptation of the 1992 animated classic "Aladdin." (Disney via AP)

"It's just about her being human and more well-rounded," said Scott.

She even gets her own empowerment anthem in a new original song called "Speechless," written by Menken, and fellow Oscar-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ("The Greatest Showman," ''La La Land").

Menken was the bridge between past and present for the production, and said he had to be both the "keeper of the flame of the original" and "part of a new team."

Actors Mena Massoud, left, and Will Smith pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Aladdin' in London, Friday, May 10, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

"When you're working at Disney you have a lot of people keeping an eye, a very careful eye, on the legacy," Menken said. "So I am very protective."

Naturally, the filmmakers wanted to give the production an epic feeling fitting of an overseas action-adventure musical.

"Aladdin" was shot on a massive soundstage outside of London, where the Agrabah set spanned the size of two football fields, and on location in Jordan, including at Wadi Rum. It was not lost on Ritchie that "Lawrence of Arabia" was also filmed there. Since there's no real city of Agrabah, production designer Gemma Jackson ("Game of Thrones") used elements of Moroccan, Persian and Turkish architecture as inspiration.

Actors Naomi Scott, left and Mena Massoud pose for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

As far as musical numbers go, the biggest production of the film by far is the "Prince Ali" sequence, where Aladdin, with the Genie's help, enters the city as they think royalty would, boasting of his great wealth, bravery and an assortment of animals including 75 golden camels, 53 peacocks and 95 white Persian monkeys.

Ritchie employed 250 dancers and 200 extras to flesh out the world and commissioned a 30-foot high camel made of 37,000 flower heads for "Ali" to ride in on.

"It's one of the biggest dance sequences you'll ever see in a movie. It's the sequence I'm most proud of," Smith said. "You got to go check it out. It's hot."

Actors Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari and Director Guy Ritchie pose for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

While there will be many, many familiar touchstones for audiences from the songs to the score to even some of the dialogue, there are some ways the live-action film had to deviate from the original.

"You cannot have a parrot talking paragraphs in live-action, where you can actually in animation," Ritchie said. "The mind's eye seems to tolerate certain exotic indulgences, for example, genies coming out of lamps and flying carpets, but it doesn't seem to tolerate talking animals, right? So a parrot is allowed to have short sentences but once it turns into paragraphs you go, hold on, what is this?"

With a runtime of over two hours, compared to the animated film's 90 minutes, there are also additional story elements and a new character in Jasmine's handmaiden (played by "Saturday Night Live" alum Nasim Pedrad). And it leans into the diversity you'd expect from a story set in the Middle East, which was personally important to Massoud.

Actors Naomi Scott, left and Mena Massoud pose for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

"Coming from the Middle East and Egypt we're just really ecstatic any time we see positive representation coming from Hollywood," Massoud said. "This is certainly positive representation."

But, like all films, its primary goal is to entertain.

"It's a fun film," said Massoud. "You should leave feeling good and happy."

Director Guy Ritchie poses for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Associated Press Television producer Sian Watson in London contributed to this report.

Actor Will Smithposes for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Actress Naomi Scott poses for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

Actor Will Smith poses for photographers upon arrival at the 'Aladdin' European Gala premiere in London, Thursday, May 9, 2019. (Photo by Joel C RyanInvisionAP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. A dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs.

That has caused embarrassment and unease as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Ukraine's capital, doctors and ambulance crews evacuated patients from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents hefting bags of clothes, toys and food carried toddlers and led young children from the Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1 on the outskirts of the city. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleged that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that the claim was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that civic authorities were awaiting an assessment from security services before deciding when it was safe to reopen the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold online talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which has been the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said late Thursday that the meeting would discuss how to turn around Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War. However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught, which is using glide bombs — powerful Soviet-era weapons that were originally unguided but have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system — that obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While that U.S. help wasn’t forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners didn’t pick up the slack, according to German’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

Jill Lawless contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian young acting student Gleb Batonskiy plays piano in a public park in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)